In the quiet of the early morning, Liam's life felt as fleeting as a mayfly's, the kind that lived only a single day. He often thought of himself like that: rushing through hours of work, barely pausing to breathe, just trying to survive until the next dawn. Like that tiny insect, he was born into a world that never slowed down, and he feared he'd reach the end of his life before ever truly living it.
The alarm clock screamed as usual, a mechanical chime that felt like a starting gun. Liam didn't flinch. His hand moved out of habit, silencing it in one swift motion. Another day, another shift, another reason to keep pushing forward without a moment's rest.
Liam, twenty-two, lived a monotonous life split between two part-time jobs. By day, he worked in a noisy workshop, repairing machines under the impatient gaze of an overbearing manager. By night, he picked up extra shifts wherever he could, anything to scrape by. His days blurred together: the clang of metal, the smell of oil, and the constant hum of exhaustion.
His relationships had faded long ago. Friends drifted away, chasing their own futures, while his family barely spoke to him. His mother had remarried a man he couldn't stand and now lived her own life, distant and unreachable. The loneliness had hardened Liam's heart, turning trust into something foreign and hope into something fragile.
He worked tirelessly, repeating the same dull routine with no end in sight. The injustice of it all gnawed at him. Why did life feel so unfair? Why was he trapped in this endless cycle, working long hours, earning just enough to survive? He felt like a machine, useful, but never valued.
He'd once had dreams. College, a career he could love, a purpose. But his father's death had forced him to give them up. Survival had taken priority over ambition. Every dream had slowly been traded for another night shift, another bill paid, another day endured.
Sometimes, on his way to work, he'd pass families walking together, laughing, carefree. He always smiled at the sight, but the ache inside him deepened. That's all I want, he would think. Just that kind of peace.
Liam's shift was almost over when the argument began. A woman in her late thirties stood at the counter, glaring at the items in front of her.
"I'm telling you, this isn't the price that was on the shelf," she snapped, her voice sharp. "Why are you charging me extra? Are you trying to rip me off?"
Liam kept his tone polite. "Ma'am, the shelf tag is outdated. I've checked it with the system, this is the correct price. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
She crossed her arms. "I don't care what your system says. Fix it!"
"Ma'am, I can't change the price. It's already set. If you'd like, the manager can…."
"Are you calling me a liar?" Her voice rose. "Do you even know who I am? I have hundreds of thousands of followers online. If you don't fix this, you'll regret it."
Something inside Liam snapped. "I'm not calling you a liar. But threatening me won't change the price. I'm just doing my job."
Her eyes gleamed with cruelty. She pulled out her phone and began recording. "Let's see how you like being online. I'll show everyone how rude you are."
Liam exhaled sharply. "Are you seriously recording this? Over a couple of dollars."
"Oh, yes," she said, smirking. "People need to see how terrible this store treats customers."
"Ma'am, please," Liam said, his patience thinning. "You're making a scene."
She laughed for the camera. "Did you hear that? He's calling me entitled. This is how they treat paying customers, everyone!"
Liam's voice trembled with anger. "You're twisting everything. Show the whole story, then. Show the part where I was just doing my job."
But she only smiled coldly. "You'll regret this."
A week later, the video went viral. His manager didn't even ask for his side.
"Liam, I'm really sorry," she said, avoiding his eyes. "But we have to let you go. The video's already hurting the store's reputation."
He stood there, stunned. "I didn't do anything wrong. I was following the rules. Did you want me to give it to her for free?"
"I know," she said softly, "but there's nothing I can do."
Liam packed his things in silence. The world felt smaller, colder. He'd done everything right, and still lost.
That night, he sat in his dark apartment, the hum of the city fading beyond his window. His job was gone. His savings were almost gone. His sense of purpose, gone.
He thought of his father, of the laughter he used to hear in that small house long ago. Now there was only silence. The kind that filled the chest until it hurt to breathe. He looked at his picture with his father and he teared up a little, not because of his father but because of his smile in the picture, the pure happiness that he will never reach and because he felt like he had disappointed his younger self and his father.
He looked out at the night sky, the stars faint and distant. "What am I even doing?" he whispered.
For a moment, he imagined leaving it all behind, escaping somewhere no one knew his name, where he could start again. Somewhere he didn't feel like a mistake.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the world had changed.
The city lights were gone. The buildings around him stood in ruins, hollow and broken. The air was thick and still.
Like the mayfly, he realized, the day had ended before he even understood it had begun.